Future of Sports Advertising
I was reading Mark Cuban’s blog and specifically, his article about advertising on NBA uniforms and an idea popped into my head about how we’ll see advertising in the future. I’m certain that I’m not the first to think about this and it may already be in use. But I don’t get out much so it’s a fairly new idea for me.
Cuban describes a a Chinese beer company that is sponsoring the Houston Rockets, both to break into the U.S. market and to capitalize on the local fascination with Yao Ming. Great idea but the Rockets are not maximizing their revenue, IMO. With technology today one would think the ads could be “virtual”, managed by computers to display specific ads to specific TV audiences. This happens already with TV commercials (ads served during Fox News in LA will be different than those served in New York) but I’m thinking more of a virtual patch or logo on a jersey that changes based on the target audoence. The L.A. market may see a logo for an upcoming event while Hong Kong’s market sees a logo for the big import/export company. These could also be shown for a brief period of time, allowing someone to buy time for the first two quarters of a game, a much nicer implementation compared to having a sewn-on patch with a specific company name.
How to implement? I don’t know… ask Lazyweb. Perhaps a blank patch with a specific color can be sewn on and used as an identifier for a very smart camera. However it’s done, I’m sure of one thing — There’s money in them thar hills!
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